By Alan
Caruba
The
rocketing
costs of gasoline and the price of corn being paid worldwide are the
result of U.S. government mandates requiring the inclusion of ethanol in
the gasoline all
Americans must use. The time has long
since passed to eliminate ethanol from this primary fuel.
A recent
report by ActionAid USA, “Fueling the Food Crisis: The Cost to Developing
Countries of U.S. Corn Ethanol Expansion” is based on work by researchers at
Tufts University. ActionAid USA is an anti-poverty group. The study found that
the corn-importing countries of Central America and North Africa are at the
highest risk from ethanol expansion—the requirement to include ethanol with gasoline.
“Strong
policy should not be based on prayers for good weather, especially when the
stakes are so high. From the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to the G20, it
is time to recognize that current biofuel mandates are unsustainable,” said
Kristin Sundell, a policy analyst for ActionAid USA.
The group is
calling on G20 leaders who are meeting on World Food Day, October 16, to
eliminate incentives that encourage unsustainable biofuels production.
The
idea
behind ethanol is that it reduces carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and, in
doing
so, it saves the Earth from global warming/climate change, but CO2 plays
no
role in climate change, and shows up well after any increase or decrease
of temperatures. Ethanol is bad science. It is bad for the engines of
cars
that must use such a gasoline blend. It increases the cost of gasoline
and all
other corn-based products. It actually increases the amount of CO2 in
the atmosphere. And
it reduces the mileage a car can achieve with pure gasoline.
An authority
on the U.S. oil industry is Sel Graham, the author of “Why Your Gasoline Prices
Are High”. He is a man with more than fifty year’s experience, first as a
petroleum reservoir engineer and later as an oil and gas attorney. He is also a
graduate of West Point.
Here’s what
Graham has to say about the current gas prices:
“Gasoline prices could be decreased instantly by President
Obama if he wanted to do so. Republicans have not yet picked up on this
issue.”
“Abolishing the ethanol mandate requiring ethanol to be blended
with gasoline at the pump or waiving the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) would: (1) lower gasoline prices by millions
of dollars; (2) result in billions of miles of free travel annually; (3)
prevent millions of tons of additional carbon dioxide from being emitted into
the air; and (4) improve national security and the energy picture since it is
impossible for US ethanol to ever replace foreign oil imports.”
“The following is reference data for skeptics. Gasoline
prices can be lowered instantly by either abolishing the ethanol mandate which
requires that ethanol be blended with gasoline at the pump or waiving the RFS. This would eliminate the millions of
dollars in waivers which refineries are required to purchase because there is
no cellulosic ethanol production, thereby decreasing the price of
gasoline."
"The 2012 RFS for cellulosic ethanol is 8.65 million gallons. Cellulosic ethanol production through August 2012 has been only 20,069 gallons, a shortage of 8.63 million gallons requiring $0.78 per gallon waivers.”
"The 2012 RFS for cellulosic ethanol is 8.65 million gallons. Cellulosic ethanol production through August 2012 has been only 20,069 gallons, a shortage of 8.63 million gallons requiring $0.78 per gallon waivers.”
An essential truth that few Americans are aware of
is that“The price of U.S. oil is always lower than the price of foreign oil.
Last year, U.S. oil averaged $95.73 per barrel, $7.25 cheaper than foreign oil
imports at $102.98 per barrel. If U.S. oil replaced the 3,261 million barrels of foreign oil imports, it would be a
savings to Americans of $23.6 billion annually.”
Given the enormous oil reserves in America, both domestic
and offshore, there is no reason why they should not be extracted, but the
environmental movement in combination with the Environmental Protection Agency,
the Interior and Energy Departments, has restricted access to our own oil.
The ethanol mandates are not just robbing Americans at the
gas pump, they are endangering the cost of food prices worldwide
Current government energy policies are a definition of
insanity.
© Alan Caruba, 2012
******************************
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